page_title: Aircraft lavatory
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Aircraft lavatory / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force Bomber Command, 1939-1941. A crew member on board a Vickers Wellington of No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron RAF places night flares in position in the cramped rear fuselage. Note the Elsan chemical lavatory to the right.
context_page_description: An aircraft lavatory or plane toilet is a small room on an aircraft with a toilet and sink.
context_section_description: An early aircraft fitted with a toilet was the 1921 Caproni Ca.60, However, it crashed on its second flight and never saw service. The Handley Page H.P.42 airliner, designed in 1928, was fitted with toilets near the center of the aircraft.
  The British Supermarine Stranraer flying boat, which first flew in 1934, was fitted with a toilet that was open to the air. When the lid was lifted in flight, airflow produced a whistling noise that led to the aircraft being nicknamed the "Whistling Shithouse". The Short Sunderland flying boat, which saw military service from 1938 to 1967, was comparatively well equipped, carrying a porcelain flush toilet.
  During World War 2, large bomber aircraft, such as the American Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and the British Avro Lancaster, carried chemical toilets (basically a bucket with seat and cover, see bucket toilet); in British use, they were called "Elsans" after the company that manufactured them. These often overflowed and were difficult to use. The intense cold of high altitude required crews to wear many layers of heavy clothing, and the pilot might have to take violent evasive action with little warning. They were unpopular with bomber crews, who would avoid using them if at all possible. Bomber crew members sometimes preferred to urinate into bottles or defecate into cardboard boxes, which were then thrown from the aircraft.
caption: A crewman on board a World War 2 Royal Air Force Vickers Wellington bomber. The container to the right of him is the aircraft's "Elsan" chemical toilet (1939-1941)
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